In computer graphics, three-dimensional (3D) modeling involves generation of a representation of a 3D surface of an object. The representation may be referred to as a 3D object data model, and can be rendered or displayed as a two-dimensional image via 3D rendering or displayed as a three-dimensional image. 3D object data models represent a 3D object using a collection of points in 3D space, connected by various geometric entities such as triangles, lines, and curved surfaces. Various techniques exist for generating 3D object data models utilizing, for example, point clouds and geometric shapes.
Being a collection of data, a 3D object data model can be created by hand, algorithmically, or based on scanned objects, for example. As an example, an artist may manually generate a 3D image of an object that can be used as the 3D model. As another example, an object may be scanned from a number of different angles, and the scanned images may be combined to generate the 3D image of the object. As yet another example, an image of an object may be used to generate a point cloud that may be algorithmically processed to generate the 3D image.
3D object data models may include solid models that define a volume of the object, or may include shell or boundary models that represent a surface (for example, the boundary) of the object. Because an appearance of an object depends largely on an exterior of the object, boundary representations are common in computer graphics.
3D models are used in a wide variety of fields, and may be displayed using a number of different types of interfaces. Example interfaces may provide functionality to enable interaction between a user and the 3D models.